” There’s more filth left in here. Watch how you are working. Can’t you perform such a simple task?” grumbled Stella, after pointing her index finger at a dish in Sophia’s palms covered with foam.
With a smirk, Stella turned away and deliberately walked away with a proud, pompous strut. She left the kitchen and went inside her comfy room.
Sophia’s eyes filled with tears. They looked like glass orbs spilling out a waterfall of sadness. She was about to shed her frustration and weep, but immediately her attention shifted to the dishes.
Sophia’s facial look could surmise the torture received from that family that day. Her mind never felt dismal before like that day. It was making her overthink undesirable happenings. Dirty dishes appeared like a burden of obligations that day.
She stood in front of the sink, piled from bottom to top with dirty dishes. She scrubbed them with a torn sponge, taking utmost care to remove the grime, which had clung to the white dish. Her hands were aching, and her head was covered with droplets of sweat. The drops of cold sweat hung like raindrops on her dark brown hair, and she wiped them off with her sleeves already soaked in sweat.
Sophia’s entire white cotton shirt had become wet, making her body feel dizzy. It was as if she’d unconsciously drop onto the trash in the sink the next moment. She continuously brushed the sweats off her skin, while at work. These drops dripped nonstop.
Often, her efforts were ignored, her shortcomings easily identified and mocked in the open. She was not even allowed to take a day off during any sickness, thus, making her condition as bad as a donkey.
It was a question of whether Sophia was a maid or a family member in the house.
Sophia was a niece. Soon after Sophia’s parents died in a car accident, her aunt adopted her. The automobile across from her parent’s house had an anonymous driver. The car’s driver allegedly fled the scene after colliding with her parents’ car to avoid a police investigation.
But after that horrible incident, Sophia’s life took a turn for the worse. She served as a puppet to the new family’s desires.
Sophia’s aunt never liked her presence. Sophia always discovered herself as a trash bin. It was because her aunt often ridiculed her and her character. She used to wanton the poor girl so often that Sophia’s skin was littered with black and blue bruises, which took days to heal.
Only fate knew why she had to endure it. Was her life treading on a path to destruction or making her suffer only to bless her in the end? The reason could be any but the condition she was in hardly saw any escape, never till present.
These issues never arose in Sophia’s mind until that day. She must have grown up enough to differentiate between right and wrong. When one matures, one begins to assume a dominant role in society. And that was what Sophia sensed that day. She looked back to reflect on all her hardships and the shortage of warmth in her innocence.
Her ears rang with the sounds of her parents’ angelic voices. “Hello, Sophia! My dear, what have you done to yourself?” Every word her deceased father uttered was delivered in a pitiful tone, and she could hear him speaking. She cried as she thought about every word spoken by her heavenly father.
The girl who had thrown her entire motionless being onto a wooden chair was suddenly glared at viciously by a curly brown-haired, chubby, wrinkled-faced woman wearing a pink gown and a white flowery hat. She went straight for the kitchen, grabbed her ear, and twisted it, making her uncomfortable.
” Don’t you know we have guests to receive at our house in half an hour? Are you lost, or should I not say, simply killing time, calming your lazy body? Do the work nicely, and if I find you relaxing again, beware of what will happen next.” Her sudden croaked voice flinched Sophia’s entire body, making her stand up from her seat.
“I should follow her without holding any resentments. Nobody else can rescue me from this difficult circumstance. I’m not strong enough to protest, you see. Sleep has sunk my fate.” She shut her orbs to stop the tears from falling downward.
The girl stood there, her eyes flaring as she cast a vacant gaze upward. Anxiety spread throughout her entire body. She returned to the kitchen in slow motion while burying her head in her chest. She appeared to be sick of the brutality forced by her family.
She wiped tears from her fair skin face and tied an apron around her shirt, ignoring all the thoughts that flooded her mind. She never needed a recipe book because she was a skilled cook.
After making the pancake, she overheard a car’s humming voice. She cocked her head to the side to see two gentlemen stepping out in the middle of that lawn and an Innova arrive at the lawn. They were both dressed in well-groomed grey coats.
These gentlemen moved cautiously and lightly toward the front door of the house with the help of the lady, giving the impression that they belonged to a wealthy class. One of the men revealed his sunglasses in the most anticipated moment, acting like a movie hero. As he turned to look at Sophia through the window, she shrank back in shyness.
Their manners made Sophia hurry to the window and gaze at them. They were gazing in different directions. It appeared like she hadn’t noticed any gentleman like this before in that house. But these guests fascinated Sophia’s mind.
But the most interesting aspect was she had to serve them then. She would be able to learn about their background, their manners, behaviour, etc. These gentlemen held the depiction of two holy saints in Sophia’s imagination, entering hell only to leave their positive impacts.
